


Small Spaces

by littlemisfit5290



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Backstory, Episode Related, Mild Hurt/Comfort, s01ep08 Ice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-01
Updated: 2017-04-01
Packaged: 2018-10-13 16:23:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10517436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littlemisfit5290/pseuds/littlemisfit5290
Summary: Written for the XF Tipsy Challenge. Post ep for "Ice".





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written in one hour, no beta, no editing. A product of Bailey’s and straight up fatigue.

She hated small spaces. Always had. It had something to do with Bill trapping her in a closet as a kid with a chair under the knob. She didn’t cry, she didn’t yell and scream to be let out. She just sat there in the dark, petrified but not letting on about it. Not until Maggie came looking for her at dinner and freed her and she ran into her arms and broke down. It was too dark and she felt trapped. Like she’d lost control.

That’s all she thinks of after she locks Mulder in the storage closet. He isn’t screaming or pounding the door down. He’s probably sitting in the corner same as she had. Silent, seething and scared shitless.

When she lets herself in and he has to stand up, squints to avoid the dim glow of the lightbulb she swallows back a lump in her throat. Yes, she pulled a gun on him and he reminds her of that. Yes, he refused an exam and pulled a gun on her. Yes, they could both leave this closet and die at the hands of perfect strangers who they both happened to see stripped naked. It’s too surreal to be real.

She presses her hand to the back of his neck and wonders if he can feel her trembling. His skin is smooth, clear of black pustules or lumps or bumps. He’s not angry. His pulse is racing but he’s not angry. His skin’s warm to the touch but not feverish and she could cry from relief at it all but stops herself. He’s been examined. He’s clean. She’s safe in here with him. Safer than she would be out there. For the first time since before the upstairs linen closet she feels safe in the confined space. Until he advances, pulls her to him. She lets out an audible gasp. She wants to run but he doesn’t let her and she fears for her life for the .2 seconds before his palm cups the nape of her neck, his fingers sprawl out and he’s caressing, he’s calming her. Slowly rubbing as her racing heartbeat slows to an audible steady thump. She shuts her eyes in sweet relief and wants to turn around. Wants to kiss him. Wants to see more of his skin, feel his softness and hardness and taste the salt of his sweat. Her feet stay planted though, her back stays turned to him. They exit the storage closet and instead of feeling at ease, wanting to cry, she feels more fearful when the door opens.

The flight back she sleeps. The cab ride back to her place she sleeps. That night in that porn laden dorm room she’d barricaded herself into she barely shut her eyes and she hadn’t the rest of their stay. She’s making up for that loss now. They shared a cab and he shakes her awake and helps her up to her apartment and onto her couch before he unties her boots. Unzips her parka.

“Did you sleep? How’re you not exhausted?”

“Adrenaline. Anger. Some combination of the two.”

“Mulder, you had to expect that they’d bury everything we uncovered up there. If not for the sake of protecting the general population from an outbreak, then to prevent mass panic.”

“There’s only interest in preventing one thing, Scully. Our uncovering anything that leads to the truth.“

“My only interest was in us leaving the Arctic with our lives, Mulder. As far as I’m concerned everything we learned in that godforsaken lab deserved to go up in flames.”

“Well I learned a lot about you. A lot of things a little government funded arson couldn’t touch.”

“What did you learn about me?”

“You had my back up there, Scully. Even after I refused to turn my back on all of you, ranted and raved that you were all infected.”

“One of us was, Mulder.”

“It wasn’t you though. And I shouldn’t have lumped you in. You stood up for me and I treated you like the enemy.”

“You were scared, Mulder. I was scared. It was a tense, fucked up nightmare up there. I’m just glad it’s finally over.”

“I’m glad I’m out of the goddamn storage closet.”

“I hated putting you in there. I hated leaving you alone in there, I-“

“I know. I saw the look on your face after you did it. The lighting was next to nothing in there but you…you looked-“

“I probably looked how I felt,” she says softly as he joins her on the couch.

“When I was a kid my brother locked me in a closet. He put a chair under the knob and left me there. I didn’t get let out until my mom found me.”

“Oh, Scully.”

“I remember how it felt just, sitting there in the dark and feeling trapped. Knowing there was nothing I could do. Having to put you through that up there.”

“You looked relieved when I stood up and squinted when you came back in.”

“I wasn’t sure of what state you’d be in, but when I realized you were alright, that you hadn’t been infected…”

“But you gasped, Scully. When I reached to examine you, I thought you were-“

“Scared? I was for a half a second. Until I realized you were just trying to check me out, I mean, check me over for-“

He laughs at her stammering and she rolls her eyes before lowering them, avoiding his. He touches the nape of her neck again though, earns another slight gasp before he gently rubs her shoulder.

“If the idea of my doing both eased your fear of small spaces…consider that I was doing both, Scully.”

They lock eyes, his hand hasn’t moved and she moves in closer before he pulls her close, embraces her. Her pulse slows from racing to a steady thump again as his does to, and cuddled close together he finally sleeps.


End file.
